Imagine shirts that act as smart-phone antennas, workout clothes that monitor fitness level, sports equipment that monitors performance, a bandage that tells your doctor how well the tissue beneath is healing, or a flexible fabric cap that senses brain signals

April 13, 2016

Ohio State University researchers have taken a key step in the design of “functional textiles” — clothes that gather, store, or transmit digital information. They’ve developed a breakthrough method of weaving electronic components into fabric with 0.1mm precision — small enough to integrate components such as sensors and computer memory devices into clothing.

Imagine shirts that act as antennas for your smart phone or tablet, workout clothes that monitor… read more

April 11, 2016

Chinese researchers have genetically modified a human embryo using CRISPR/Cas9, the gene editing technique, using embryos that carried an extra set of chromosomes (so they were not viable) — hoping to learn more about the possibility of producing human babies that would be immune to HIV.

The Chinese team reports in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics that they obtained 213 fertilized eggs from a fertility clinic, which had been deemed… read more

April 11, 2016

Autonomous vehicles would have to be driven hundreds of millions of miles or even hundreds of billions of miles over tens and even hundreds of years (under some scenarios) to create enough data to statistically demonstrate their safety, when compared to the rate at which injuries and fatalities* occur in human-controlled cars and trucks, according to a new open-access RAND report.**

Transistors and other electronic components to be built into flexible or wearable applications; 3D printing planned

April 8, 2016

University of Pennsylvania engineers have developed a simplified new approach for making transistors by sequentially depositing their components in the form of liquid nanocrystal “inks.” The new process open the door for transistors and other electronic components to be built into flexible or wearable applications. It also avoids the highly complex current process for creating transistors, which requires high-temperature, high-vacuum equipment. Also, the new lower-temperature process is compatible with a… read more

DNA segments are targeted to be building blocks for molecular computer memory and electronic devices, nanoscale drug-delivery systems, and as markers for biological research and imaging disease-relevant proteins

April 6, 2016

A stem cell therapy system capable of regenerating any human tissue damaged by injury, disease, or aging could be available within a few years, say University of New South Wales (UNSW Australia) researchers.

Their new repair system*, similar to the method used by salamanders to regenerate limbs, could be used to repair everything from spinal discs to bone fractures, and could transform current treatment approaches to regenerative medicine.

In testing with rats, electrode implant also triggers pleasure-associated dopamine

April 6, 2016

Are you in pain, but your doc won’t increase your hydrocodone dosage (or you don’t want to overdose)?

University of Texas at Arlington researchers may have a (future) drug-free fix: electrical stimulation of a deep middle-brain structure that blocks pain signals at the spinal cord level while triggering release of pleasure-associated dopamine to reduce the associated emotional distress.

Electronic components 1,000 times smaller than with silicon may be possible

April 6, 2016

Nanoscale electronic components can be made from single DNA molecules, as researchers at the University of Georgia and at Ben-Gurion University in Israel have demonstrated, using a single molecule of DNA to create the world’s smallest diode.

A diode is a component vital to electronic devices that allows current to flow in one direction but prevents its flow in the other direction.… read more

April 5, 2016

Multiple recon drones in the sky all suddenly aim their cameras at a person of interest on the ground, synced to what persons on the ground see …

That could be a reality soon, thanks to an agreement just announced by the mysterious SICdrone, an unmanned aircraft system manufacturer, and CrowdOptic, an “interactive streaming platform that connects the world through smart devices.”… read more

April 4, 2016

MIT biological engineers have created a programming language for bacteria. It allows anyone to rapidly design complex, DNA-encoded circuits that add new functions to living cells — no genetic engineering knowledge required.

For example: design bacterial cells that can produce a cancer drug when they detect a tumor or create yeast cells that can halt their own fermentation process if too many toxic byproducts build up.… read more

April 4, 2016

Researchers at American University have demonstrated the first use of commercial 3D printers to create a structure with active chemistry — in this case, a structure that acts to mitigate pollution.

The researchers added titanium dioxide nanoparticles to standard ABS filament material (used in 3D printers) and extruded a filament that they then used to print a small, sponge-like plastic object on a low-cost Flashforge Creator… read more